SATURDAY, 14 JULY 1945
AAF PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (Seventh Air Force): HQ Seventh AF moves from Saipan
to Okinawa and is reassigned from AAF Pacific Ocean Area and overall
operational control by the US Navy to FEAF. Seventh AF units in the Ryukyu Islands,
operating under Tactical AF, Ryukyus (Tenth Army Tactical AF) since Apr 45 when
the first element of the Seventh AF arrived, are now under operational control
of HQ Seventh AF. The move from Saipan takes place between 18 Jun and 28 Jul.
HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): P-51s from Iwo Jima on a mission against Meiji Airfield and Kagamigahara Airfield in the Nagoya area abort because of weather. B-29 Superfortress bomb Sapporo at midday.
CHINA THEATER (AAF, China Theater) Fourteenth Air Force: 25 P-51s and P-38s
bomb or strafe ammunition and supply dumps, river, road, and rail traffic, and
coastal shipping around Laohokow, Tinpak, Koyiu and Yutze, China and Hung Yen,
Bac Ninh, Hongay, Mon Cay and Vinh, French Indochina.
WESTERN PACIFIC [Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The Tactical Air Force was dissolved, its mission completed. The FEAF assumed control of the attack against Japan. On this date HQ Seventh AF officially
joins the Fifth and Thirteenth AFs as part of FEAF. On Formosa, A-26s hit the
Taiharo refinery and warehouse area and P-51s over the W coast blast railroad
targets. P-47s sweep the N China coast and attack coastal cargo vessels NW of
Tinghai. On Luzon, fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Mankayan and Kiangan areas and hit enemy positions in the Ipo-Infanta sector. B-24s support
ground forces on Negros Island, bombing the area NE of Mount Mandalagan. On
Celebes, B-24s bomb airstrips at Boeloedowang Airfield, Limboeng Airfield, Mapanget Airfield, and
Tanamon and Japanese HQ at Sindjai. The air echelon of the 25th Photographic
Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Group, moves from Clark
Field
to Okinawa with F-5s (ground echelon arrived on Okinawa on 9 Jul).
U.S. Navy: Since bad weather prevents attacks on their primary targets, airfields in northern Honshu and Hokkaido, planes from TF 38 under Vice Admiral John S. McCain hit shipping, rail facilities, and ground installations in those areas instead; attack is repeated on 15 July. TF 38's planes sink escort destroyer Tachibana and Coast Defense Vessel No.219 in Hakodate harbor, Hokkaido, 41°48'N, 140°41'E, Coast Defense Vessel No.65 and Coast Defense Vessel No.74, 15 miles south of Muroran, Hokkaido, 42°21'N, 140°59'E, submarine chaser Ch 48, 2.1 kilometers off Nakanegishi; auxiliary minesweepers No.2 Choyo Maru, five miles off Kikonai, 41°38'N, 140°35'E and 3 Keijin Maru, northeast of Shiriyasaki, 41°30'N, 141°30'E, Sonobe Maru off Hiroo, Hokkaido, 42°11'N, 143°36'E and 2 Tamazono Maru, Kushiro Pier, Hokkaido, 42°58'N, 144°25'E; guardboats Chitose Maru, four miles off Kayabe, Hokkaido and 18 Eikoku Maru off Cape Shiobuki, Hokkaido and 2 Meiji Maru off Hakodate, Ojima Maru off Shiriyasaki, 41°30'N, 141°40'E; gunboat Hokoku Maru off Oma-saki, Tsugaru-kaikyo, 41°33'N, 141°08'E, and transport No.1 Un'yo Maru off Muroran, Hokkaido, 42°21'N, 140°59'E; army cargo vessel No.6 Nissen Maru near Tsugaru Strait; merchant vessels Taisei Maru and Shimofusa Maru at west entrance of Tsugaru Strait, and Osaki Maru, Hakodate; merchant cargo ships Shichiyo Maru, 43°47'N, 141°12'E; Imizu Maru, Furubiba, Otaru Bay; Setagawa Maru, off Yongtok; Eiho Maru and No.5 Kaisei Maru, Hakodate; and Saito Maru off east coast of Korea, and train ferries No.2 Seikan Maru and 3 Seikan Maru and 4 Seikan Maru and 10 Seikan Maru, Tsugaru Maru, Shoho Maru and Hiran Maru, merchant cargo ships Senzan Maru and Awa Maru in Aomori-Hakodate area.22 In addition, TF 38 planes damage destroyer Yanagi in Tsugaru Strait; Coast Defense Vessel No.205 outside Otaru harbor, and Coast Defense Vessel No.215, Hakodate harbor; auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 72 and auxiliary minesweeper Minakami Maru off Usujiri; guardboat Miya Maru off the eastern mouth of Tsugaru Strait; auxiliary minesweeper No.1 Tamazono Maru, Kushiro Pier, Hokkaido, 42°58'N, 144°25'E; army vessels Kaizan Maru outside Hachinohe harbor, and Sachi Maru off Otaru; army cargo ship Taisho Maru (location unspecified); train ferries No.6 Seikan Maru and 8 Seikan Maru, Matsumae Maru in Aomori-Hakodate area; merchant cargo ships Eitoku Maru, Hanasaki Maru, and Kenkoku Maru in Hakodate harbor; merchant cargo ships Taka Maru and 23 Hokuryu Maru, Eireki Maru, and No.3 Koun Maru off Muroran; merchant vessel Hokushin Maru in Tsugaru Strait; merchant cargo ships Shoho Maru off Yobetsu; Hirano Maru (beached), Miuyama Bay; Kotsu Maru and No.13 Kyodo Maru, Otaru; Shunko Maru (location unspecified); Hachirei Maru, nine miles off Iwanai; Toyo Maru off Cape Temma; merchant tankers No.5 Kyoei Maru, beached off Matsumae, and No.6 Shoun Maru, beached off Akashi, and dredger Kushiro Maru, location unspecified.
Task Unit 34.8.1 (TU 34.8.1) under Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth including three battleships: USS Massacusetts BB-59, USS Indiana BB-58, USS South Dakota BB-57, two heavy cruisers, and nine destroyers bombard the coastal city of Kamaishi, Honshu. The primary target is the Japan Ironworks plant. This is the first naval gunfire bombardment of the home islands of Japan.
Tank landing ships LST-684 and LST-826 are damaged by grounding off Okinawa, 26°12'N, 127°57'E.
Mines sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Senju Maru off Moji, Japan, and Kiukiang Maru at 35°06'N, 129°43'E.
RAAF: Damaged during take off is PV-1 Ventura NZ4632 at Jacquinot
Bay Airfield and was written off.
